Who we are
The Education Places Strategy Team makes sure there are enough good-quality education and childcare places for children and young people. We work with early years settings, schools, specialist providers and other partners to plan places in the right areas.
We follow Somerset’s Local First approach. This means we try to make sure children can learn close to home, in their own communities, wherever this is possible.
Our legal duties
We have several legal duties related to education place planning. These include:
- Making sure there are enough early years and childcare places.
- Making sure there are enough school places at primary, secondary and all-through schools.
- Planning enough specialist and alternative provision for children and young people with additional needs.
- Using public money responsibly when creating, changing or reviewing places.
These duties help make sure children can access the right place, at the right time, in a safe and suitable setting.
What we do
Understanding need
We look at information such as birth numbers, local housing development, population movement in and out of Somerset, which informs the pupil population forecasts. This helps us understand where more places are needed and where there may be too many.
Planning places
We work with all educators, schools, early years providers and academy trusts to plan how to meet local supply and demand. This can include:
- Expanding existing provision
- Creating new provision
- Changing or repurposing surplus places to meet different types of educational need, including SEND
Supporting change
We provide information and data to inform and secure developer contributions, where the impact of new housing may lead to insufficient early years or school places. The team support school organisation processes when changes are required.
Promoting local access
We aim to keep education local. This helps families stay connected to their community and can reduce long travel times.
Education Places Strategy
Our work follows the Education Places Strategy for Somerset. The strategy explains:
- Our legal duties
- The principles we use when planning places
- Current challenges and future demand
- How we will respond to changes in need
Contact the Education Places Strategy Team
If you have questions about education place planning, please contact the Education Places Strategy Team.
Downloads
- Appendix A – School Organisation Plan areas
- Appendix B – Locality Areas in Somerset
- Appendix C – Locality Summaries Specialist SEND
- Appendix D – Ansford Area Summary
- Appendix D – Bridgwater Area Summary
- Appendix D – Burnham-on-Sea Area Summary
- Appendix D – Chard Area Summary
- Appendix D – Cheddar Area Summary
- Appendix D – Crewkerne and Ilminster Area Summary
- Appendix D – Frome Area Summary
- Appendix D – Glastonbury Area Summary
- Appendix D – Huish Episcopi Area Summary
- Appendix D – North Mendip Area Summary
- Appendix D – Shepton Mallet Area Summary
- Appendix D – Stoke Sub Hamdon Area Summary
- Appendix D – Street Area Summary
- Appendix D – Taunton Area Summary
- Appendix D – Wellington Area Summary
- Appendix D – Wells Area Summary
- Appendix D – West Somerset Area Summary
- Appendix D – Wincanton Area Summary
- Appendix D – Wiveliscombe Area Summary
- Appendix D – Yeovil Area Summary
- Appendix E – Pupil Yields and Cost to Build
Having trouble opening documents?
If you click a link and see a login screen or the file won’t open, it may be trying to download instead of view in your browser. Please select “Open in browser” from the bottom of the login screen.